A group of friends on a midnight ride through isolated country roads encounters something terrifying lurking among the leafless trees. An eerie legend warns travelers to light a cigarette to ward off the witches, but they dismiss it as folklore—until they hear the chilling laughter. What lies hidden in these woods, and why is it desperate to snatch travelers who dare pass through?
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00:00It was just another road trip, nine friends escaping the city, roaring through the darkness
00:06on our motorcycles toward a remote farmhouse. We were young, carefree, and invincible,
00:14or so we believed. Little did we know, the very path that promised a weekend of adventure
00:20was destined to lead us into a nightmare. The laughter we heard that night still echoes in my
00:26dreams, a haunting, bone-chilling cackle from the darkness above. We never expected to uncover the
00:34truth behind the local legends, but some truths are better left buried in the shadows.
00:42We'd spent countless weekends exploring the countryside, escaping the city's suffocating
00:48embrace for open skies and quiet roads. Our group of nine was inseparable. Bound by adventures,
00:56late-night conversations, and the freedom of riding motorcycles under the moonlit sky.
01:03Junior year was filled with stress, deadlines, and constant demands. The idea of a weekend
01:10getaway to our friend Tom's farm was irresistible. Tom's family owned a sprawling 200-acre property
01:19in rural isolation, complete with vast chicken coops and an inviting farmhouse pool. It was the perfect
01:28backdrop for our weekend escape. Riding through the countryside that Friday evening, we felt invincible,
01:37nine friends sharing a youthful bravado that blinded us to the shadows lurking ahead.
01:42The first night was filled with laughter, beer, and moonlit swimming. The second day,
01:51blurred by under the hot sun, carefree and joyous, until late Saturday night. Around 11, when Tom's father
02:00called the farmhouse, his voice trembled slightly as he relayed the news. Tom's uncle had died,
02:08suddenly, in a remote town, two hours further into the country. Tom's father was deeply shaken,
02:16pleading with us to assist his widowed aunt, now left alone. Without hesitation, we agreed,
02:23packing hastily and mounting our motorcycles to ride deeper into the night.
02:28The roads grew emptier, darker, eerily silent as we travelled. Our headlights sliced through a heavy,
02:39oppressive darkness that seemed to swallow the countryside whole. Two hours passed swiftly,
02:47but we found ourselves lost, pulling over onto a gravel shoulder to consult a worn paper map.
02:53There were no cell phones, no GPS, just us and the endless, silent countryside.
03:04Twenty anxious minutes ticked by before headlights appeared in the distance. We flagged the car down
03:10eagerly. The driver, a local resident, agreed to lead us through the maze of unmarked roads.
03:18Before we moved on, he leaned out of his window, his eyes glinting oddly under the pale moonlight.
03:26If any of you smoke, he warned grimly, light one up when we hit the dirt road.
03:34I hesitated, then asked why. So the witches don't snatch you, he answered softly,
03:41his voice carrying an unsettling seriousness. I dismissed it as country superstition, though a chill
03:49crawled up my spine. We followed him onto the dirt road, immediately enveloped by dense woods,
03:58starkly leafless despite the warm summer months. An unnatural silence hung heavy around us.
04:05Nervously, I asked my friend Jake to light a cigarette. He laughed, refusing. Unable to shake
04:12my discomfort, I stopped briefly, fumbling with Jake's lighter and lighting a cigarette myself.
04:20The thin trail of smoke did little to ease my anxiety. Then, piercing the unnatural quiet,
04:28came a laugh. A hideous, mocking cackle echoing from high above in the treetops. My blood ran cold.
04:37I glanced at Jake and Kyle beside me, their faces pale, confirming they had heard it too.
04:43The laughter returned repeatedly, malicious and chilling. We rode tightly together, fear palpable in
04:51our silence. Every shadow seemed alive. Each tree branch twisted into claws reaching down to snatch us.
05:01We continued down the dirt road, our tires kicking up dust that swirled unnaturally in our wake.
05:09The further we rode, the more twisted the trees became, leaning inwards like they wanted to listen,
05:15or perhaps warn us. A suffocating stillness fell over the group. Even the crickets had gone silent.
05:24It was as if nature itself was holding its breath.
05:29Someone behind me suddenly shouted,
05:31Did you see that? I slowed down and looked back, heart hammering.
05:37Kyle's face was pale, eyes wide beneath his helmet.
05:41There was a woman, he said breathlessly, just off the road, standing between the trees.
05:48Jake scoffed. It's just your nerves, man. This place is creepy, sure, but don't start seeing things.
05:56But I saw doubt flicker in his eyes. We all did. None of us wanted to be the one who admitted fear,
06:03but it was sinking in, heavy and real.
06:06Moments later, our headlights flickered. First mine, then Tom's. They buzzed and dimmed,
06:15briefly extinguishing the only light between us and the black void of the forest. Then they sputtered
06:22back on. But the road had changed. Where once the trees had been thin and spaced, they now stood
06:30densely packed. Trunks blackened and gnarled. The dirt turned darker, almost slick. The air smelled like
06:39iron and rotting leaves. We rode on in tight formation. No one spoke now.
06:47Another laugh echoed from above. This time it didn't sound like one voice.
06:52It was a chorus, distorted, inhuman, like broken wind chimes shrieking through the branches.
07:01Jake revved his engine and sped ahead, yelling for us to follow. As we did, something moved beside me.
07:08Fast, pale, impossible to fully see. A flutter of white, a flick of dark hair.
07:15I nearly lost control of the bike. At last, the woods parted, revealing a solitary house illuminated
07:25dimly from within. Our guide waved briefly and drove away, leaving us shaken and silent.
07:34We knocked hesitantly, the widow opening the door with tear-streaked eyes.
07:40We spent the next day comforting and assisting her, doing our best to ignore the night's horrors.
07:49That night, as I laid on the couch, I couldn't sleep. I stared at the window, half expecting to
07:56see a face staring back. Around 3am I got up to smoke. Outside the night air was still and heavy.
08:05Just as I lit the cigarette, a breeze rushed past me, icy and sharp, whispering something I couldn't
08:12understand. I froze. The laughter didn't come this time, but I knew something was still out there,
08:20watching. The next morning, the widow prepared us breakfast with hands that trembled.
08:27She told us, almost in passing, that her husband used to carry firecrackers whenever he went into
08:33the woods after dark. He said it kept her at bay, she said quietly, never specifying who her was.
08:42But we all understood. As we rode home, no one cracked jokes, no one laughed. The wind seemed colder,
08:52the trees less inviting. The countryside had lost its charm. We stayed close together all the way back
08:59to the city. A silent pact never to take that road again. We never returned to that part of the state.
09:07Even reunions were hosted elsewhere. And though years passed, that dirt road haunted all of us in
09:15different ways. Kyle moved away and wouldn't talk about that night. Jake started carrying a lighter,
09:23even though he never smoked. As for me, I stopped riding entirely.
09:30In the city, we never spoke openly about the cackling in the trees. Curiosity gnawed at me,
09:39prompting a discreet conversation with Tom's father. He nodded slowly at my recounting,
09:46acknowledging the local legend, a witch lurking in those woods, hungry for the souls of men
09:52unfortunate enough to cross her path after dark. The cigarette, he explained, symbolized fire,
10:00the only thing the witch feared. His casual dismissal of the legend as rural superstition
10:06struck me deeply. I knew the truth. That laughter haunted my dreams, a grim reminder that some
10:14legends are born from darkness, far older and far more real than any tale.
10:22Years have passed since that night, but the dread remains vivid, the memories untouched by time. The
10:31passage through those woods might still exist, hidden from the world, lingering between forgotten roads
10:38and whispered warnings, awaiting the next travelers to ignore the warnings and venture into the witch's
10:44grasp. Some stories aren't warnings. They're traps. And sometimes, if you ride far enough into the night,
10:53the road doesn't let you go. It's strange how easily people dismiss stories, until they become their own
11:02nightmares. Years later, I returned to the countryside for Tom's wedding. Curiosity drew me back to the woods,
11:11now overgrown, paths hidden beneath layers of leaves. Standing at the road's edge, cigarette trembling in
11:19my fingers. I listened intently. Silence. But just as I turned away, relieved yet oddly disappointed,
11:29a faint echo drifted on the wind, a distant familiar laughter. My heart froze. Was it memory haunting me,
11:39or something far darker, still lurking among those dead trees, waiting patiently for my return?
11:46And so, the shadows stretch further, and the mystery only deepens. But this is far from the end.
11:56It's merely the beginning. What lingers beyond the door? Who is whispering your name? And what is that
12:04shifting in the corner of your eye? The answers await in the next chapter of these chilling tales.
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12:19and the darkness never sleeps. Until next time, stay in the light, if you can.